


of coffee and carnations

by mangostickyrice



Series: of coffee and carnations [1]
Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, M/M, They're All Gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 09:37:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangostickyrice/pseuds/mangostickyrice
Summary: in which a series of relationships blossom between characters in a flower shop (no pun intended) and the cafe just around the corneralternatively: in which a bunch of stupid boys get to know one another





	of coffee and carnations

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by that one tumblr prompt "Person A owns a flower shop and person B comes storming in one day, slaps 20 bucks on the counter and says 'How do I passive-aggressively say fuck you in flower?'"
> 
> this fic was kindly proofread by @grapefruitblue, do check out her stuff!!

Cai Xukun felt like he was in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. The whole population of Beijing, China, cramped into their modestly sized flower shop, thirsting for a taste of his brains… 

Okay, maybe he’s being a tad too dramatic.

Still, simply being in a flower shop on Valentine’s Day for more than 5 minutes was enough to drive anyone nuts. Working in one would shred anyone’s sanity to minuscule fragments. It is way too loud, way too busy, and the fact that the air-conditioner broke the morning of one of the busiest days in the year made the air in the shop humid and sticky, much to Xukun’s annoyance.

Nature’s Pot (NP for short), where Xukun worked part-time at, was the most hectic he had ever seen. He was swamped with orders for customised bouquets, overwhelmed by the large influx of customers who seemed to endlessly stream through their glass doors.

Nevertheless, determined to keep up with the morning rush, Xukun’s hands deftly arranged the colourful blooms, swathing stalks in wrapping paper as his fingers brushed across the soft petals. He could feel the stress level in the room rising while order sheets, tossed unceremoniously by a very occupied Chen Linong who was taking said orders, accumulated on his work table in a haphazard pile.

Wiping beads of sweat off his forehead and under his chin, Xukun’s frantic fingers wrestled to tie a creamy white ribbon around yet another bouquet of red roses, primping the flowers one last time before setting them down at the counter for collection with a satisfied grin. Five bouquets down, approximately 80 to go.

—

At about 2, the crowd had finally died down, giving the florists a chance to take a breather. Wrapping the final piece of twine to secure his last bouquet for the early afternoon, Xukun let out a long sigh as he plopped down on the tiny couch, which groaned in protest under the sudden weight change, in the middle of the now-empty store.

Xukun laced his fingers together and pushed outwards, feeling the satisfying pop of his joints as he flexed his fingers. He thought his overworked digits would snap if he tried to tie another obnoxiously pink ribbon around an excessively large bundle of tulips for yet another overzealous boyfriend.

“Ge! Are you gonna call the repairman soon? It’s like a sauna in here,” Linong whined as he tugged at his collar impatiently, continuing to mutter complaints under his breath. The boy had been dealing with a barrage of customers intent on making his life a misery for the past few hours, so it was no surprise that he was a little cranky, a stark contrast to the usually cheerful and optimistic Linong.

“Cheer up, we can leave the door open to let some air in,” Fan Chengcheng patted the boy’s shoulder sympathetically as he pushed the glass door open to let the cooler air into the humid room. Linong groaned, fanning himself with his hand as he wiped the perspiration off his neck with his collar.

“The repairman is coming tomorrow, apparently almost everyone took the day off,” Zhu Zhengting, their boss and owner of the flower shop, said as he emerged from their storage room. “Besides, it’s way too crowded in the shop today for them to be doing much anyway.”

“Eh, where are you going?” Xukun trailed his boss’ movements, eying the pot of blue periwinkles in Zhengting's arms and noting the absence of the pastel yellow apron that the lanky man always sported when he was in the shop.

“I wanted to go welcome the new neighbours. Didn’t really get time to this morning, but since we’re pretty free now, I thought I’d go.” Zhengting explained as he moved towards the exit. “You should probably take a break and eat something too, before the pre-dinner-date rush starts. 

“Oh, is it the cafe that just opened two stores down? I heard their coffee’s pretty good,” Chengcheng commented, looking up from his phone towards the man with the blooms in his possession. “You know what else is good? The AC that’s working there. Zhengting-ge, we’re coming with you,” Linong interjected, peeling himself off the couch whilst still fanning himself with his hand.

“Yeah, I saw the owner moving his stuff into the store a couple of days ago, and he invited us over for coffee so I thought I’d take him up on his offer,” Zhengting shrugged nonchalantly, but his tone used to deliver the sentence suggested that there was more to it, which Chengcheng picked up on immediately.

“Stop lying to us, you never drink coffee, you just think he’s cute,” The younger jeered, earning him an embarrassed (and painful) slap on his arm from the elder as Linong threw his head back in one of his boisterous laughs.

“I do not!” Zhengting spluttered in indignation, shooting Xukun a flustered, wide-eyed look as the Chinese man’s lips twitched in amusement. ”I don’t! I just thought his accent was really cute, plus he had these pretty white shoes that I’ve wanted for a while… I do not have a c-crush!” He asserted, trying to hold back the traitorous blush threatening to spread across his cheeks.

The jeering resumed (mostly from Linong) until the jingle of bells signaling that the glass door was pushed open announced his co-workers’ departure, which left him alone in the shop. Still chuckling, Xukun lay down on the couch, opening the Weibo app as he began to scroll.

—

The same jingle pierced through the undisturbed hush in the shop a while later, alerting Xukun to a customer’s arrival. He mentally groaned and sat up, slightly disappointed that his break time was interrupted. Still, he was tasked with taking care of the shop, so he slid his phone into the front pocket of his apron and walked quickly towards the boy with a cap pulled over his head, who was frowning at the name labels of the flowers on display.

“Welcome to Nature’s Pot, I’m Xukun. How can I help you today?” Xukun asked in his most chipper “customer service” tone, causing the boy to turn sideways to face him.

And _holy shit_ was he cute. Xukun’s breath caught in his throat, his attention immediately captured by the boy’s large glossy chestnut-coloured eyes, which seemed to bore right into his soul as he focused on Xukun’s face with a fiery gaze, eyebrows furrowed. The florist was too busy admiring the shapes the beautiful boy’s lips made as he spoke, but didn’t manage to register what he was actually saying until it was too late.

“Uh… sorry, what?” Xukun asked sheepishly, slightly abashed at the fact that the customer might have caught him staring.

“Well, Xukun,” The boy’s eyes flitted down to the name tag attached to the florist’s apron, “How can I passive-aggressively say ‘fuck you’ in flower language?” He asked with a clearly forced smile, voice surprisingly melodic despite the harsh tone which he used to deliver the inquiry.

Xukun was mildly taken aback by the unexpected (and crude) question, but still shot the customer his most friendly smile nonetheless. “Do you have anything specific in mind? Like feelings you want to convey?”

“Uh, just whatever you have. They fucked me up in more ways than one anyway, throw in everything you have for under 20 bucks,” The boy replied with a noncommittal shrug. 

The florist nodded. He’d handled several “breakup bouquets”, as he liked to call them, before, and they weren’t too difficult to arrange. It also allowed him the freedom to make a bouquet without a rose for once that day (Xukun’s fingertips were sore from being pricked by one too many stray thorns, something he made a mental note to gripe at Chengcheng for later), thank god.

As he gathered whatever he needed from the storage room to assemble the bouquet, he tried not to steal glances at the enchanting boy who was ambling around the shop while waiting. Xukun even considered making small talk with the customer (and maybe get his number), but a voice at the back of his mind reminded him of his general inability to handle being around people he found attractive, so he just kept his mouth shut and concentrated on the flowers instead.

“So, what’s in the bouquet?” Xukun had been so adamant on focusing on his job to keep his mind off the distraction that was the boy in the shop, that when he took his eyes off the bouquet towards where the voice was coming from, he found the boy now peering curiously over the counter.

“Well, I put in some geraniums for stupidity, foxglove for insincerity, meadowsweet for uselessness, orange lilies for hatred, and yellow carnations which means “you have disappointed me”. It’s really striking, and I hope it’s as full of loathing as you want it to be.” Xukun mentally fist-pumped at the fact that he didn’t stutter while delivering his explanation, and that the customer now had a slightly more genuine smile playing on his lips with his demeanour visibly less vexed.

“I knew coming here was a good idea,” The stranger’s obsidian eyes twinkled under the bright lights in the shop, “Just what I needed.”

 _You’re what I need_ , Xukun bit his tongue to keep the words from tumbling out. The boy’s close proximity (close enough to smell his heavenly cologne over the scent of the blooms) was slightly disconcerting to the florist, causing his throat to tighten as his heart skipped a beat. Jerking his eyes back to his job, he resumed his assembling of the bouquet, trying not to feel too self-conscious as he felt the customer’s eyes on him. Xukun’s fingers smoothed the wrapping paper out, fixing the flowers slightly as he added the final touches to the bouquet before securing the ribbon.

“Here you go, done!” Xukun thrust the bouquet in front of the boy, mentally giving himself a pat on the back when he seemed impressed. “Do you need a card?”

“Nope,” Came the fast reply, “Don’t want to waste even more money on that asshole.” Xukun snorted in amusement, suppressing a strange, unsolicited urge to punch whoever had hurt his customer. 

The boy responded with a friendly grin as he took the roses from the florist and pulled out his wallet, handing a crisp 20 dollar bill to Xukun. He tried to finish the transaction as slowly as he could, hoping the receipt would print slower than usual; he really didn’t want the customer to leave, there was something beyond his physical attractiveness that drew Xukun to him, and the florist wanted to get to know him better.

“Thanks for helping me out, the name’s Ziyi, by the way.”

_Fist-pump number 2, I got his name! Okay, just be cool, ask to go grab a coffee or sometime soon, as smoothly and non-creepily as you can._

“I’m Xukun. Nice to meet you, Ziyi,” Xukun tested the boy’s out, stomach fluttering at the way his new acquaintance’s name rolled off his tongue.

“I know. It’s on your name tag.”

“Right.”

“Right.”

“Uh… okay then… bye.” _Nice going, Xukun. At this rate, you’re going to end up alone with 32 cats._

“Bye.”

How fucking pathetic.

As Xukun watched the beautiful man push the glass door open, the thought of never seeing the guy again made the craziest, most idiotic idea he’d ever had wash over him. He’d made many stupid decisions in the past, but this was probably the worst one yet.

He knew he was going to regret doing it, but he was going to hate himself for not doing it either.

“Hey, wait a second.”

Ziyi was half out the door, but turned around to face the nervous boy behind the counter, shooting him a confused look with his eyebrows raised.

“Wait, let me get you something.” He disappeared below the counter, rummaging through the basket of fresh red roses before procuring the nicest one he could find, making sure there were no thorns before taking a deep breath, straightening his legs to stand up. Ziyi had appeared before the counter again, face-to-face with Xukun.

“Happy Valentine’s Day!” He presented the rose to Ziyi with a flourish. The boy just stared at it, not moving a muscle. 

 _I’m officially the biggest loser on this planet._ “Uh, I thought m-maybe you’ll need it later? When one goes, another comes, right? There’re plenty of fish in the sea! You might meet someone new today, g-give it to them,” Xukun tried to save the situation the best he could ( _I probably made it worse, dammit_ ), his embarrassed rambling causing him to stumble over his speech as his brain tried to string words together to form an actual sentence before it spilt from his lips.

Xukun admonished himself for his awkwardness (mentally of course), causing him to break eye-contact with Ziyi, and his arm unconsciously started dropping until the rose was plucked from his hand. The florist’s head jerked up in surprise, to see Ziyi admiring the rose with slightly flushed cheeks.

“Actually, maybe I do need it. I just hope I catch him later today,” Ziyi had an unreadable expression on his face, still twirling the stalk between his fingers as he spoke. Xukun’s heart dropped at the mention of _him,_ but still forced himself to maintain the smile on his face.

 _Of_ course _he would have something special with someone else, I’m an idiot for thinking I had a chance._

“Thanks again!” With a wink and one of his ethereal smiles, Ziyi was gone.

Xukun stood frozen for a moment, the only sound in the shop was the fading sounds of the bells and dull whir of the fan at full speed. His thoughts were bittersweet when his brain finally caught up with the situation; he probably would never see Ziyi again, let alone be with him, yet the fact that he’d managed to pluck up enough courage to offer the cutest guy a rose on Valentine’s Day was a cause for celebration in Xukun’s books.

The bells clinked against the door, dragging Xukun out of his reverie. It was the two younger boys with coffee cups clutched in their hands, with Zhengting in tow, who had a beaming smile which stretched from ear to ear. “Smile any wider and you’re gonna dislocate your jaw,” Linong chortled, to which Zhengting responded with a light swat on the arm, but his smile didn’t fade one bit.

“What happened?” Xukun questioned, never seeing his boss so happy before.

“It has been confirmed that Zhengting-ge’s got a crush,” Chengcheng said in his best impression of a newscaster, the mirth and amusement clear in his face. “You should have seen him, Kun. He finally got to meet the cute cafe guy again and was literally the heart eye emoji the entire time.”

‘Shut up,” Zhengting whined, the pink tint on his cheeks spreading all the way up to the tip of his ears as he bit his lip to keep himself from smiling, placing his apron over his head. “Okay, enough, we have to get back to work and start preparing now." 

Xukun followed suit, tuning out the sounds of Chengcheng and Linong’s usual loud banter as he rolled up his sleeves and took his place behind the counter. His eyes fell onto a stray piece of ribbon left on his workstation, the bit that was left over from making Ziyi’s bouquet.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t smile just a tiny bit.

—

After the encounter, the afternoon picked up again, the store abuzz with activity as people flooded the cramped space in search of last minute gifts and flowers. As Xukun’s hands worked at fever pitch to wrap even more bouquets, his mind was encapsulated by thoughts of the boy and his goddamned smile. He felt a little pathetic, pining over a guy he met for less than five minutes and will probably never see again.

The afternoon rush was just as bad, if not worse than the one in the morning. The florists worked in silence, each deeply concentrated on their tasks at hand. It wasn’t long before their arms were sore, fingers pricked by stray thorns and foreheads dripping with sweat. Xukun enjoyed it though, being busy. That’s what he liked about being a florist — watching all the colourful blooms come together to form a beautiful bouquet, and the fact that he was the one responsible for such creations that brought joy to someone else made him ooze with contentment.

Closing time slowly approached at about 8 at night. The shop which was bursting full of flowers in the morning was then missing said blooms, the buckets empty and shifted from their original position by shuffling feet and curious hands.

Being single on Valentine’s Day sucked big time, especially if you worked at a flower shop. It was depressing wrapping flowers all day long when you know you’re going to be spending the night alone. Letting out a long sigh, Xukun grabbed the empty buckets and chucked them into the storage room, cleaning up trash left behind so that he could just go home to take a long shower and sleep.

“I think we’re done for the day,” Zhengting straightened up from his crouched position in front of one of the cabinets in the storage room, dusting the dirt off his palms. “Get home safe!” With that, he retreated into his tiny office tucked right at the back of the store, leaving Xukun alone.

After a busy day in a hot and humid store, the cool February air which hit Xukun’s face the moment he stepped out of the store was a welcome occurrence. Out of habit, he stood on the sidewalk outside the shop, taking in a deep breath as he looked up to admire the beautiful night sky. He felt the tension melt from his shoulders, appreciating the dark, starry night for a few more seconds before deciding that he should head home for the night.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Xukun walked barely two steps ahead before his feet grinded to a halt again, eyes meeting with someone’s who was at the back of his mind the entire day.

“Hey Xukun!” The person waved as he walked towards the stunned florist, seemingly oblivious to how confused and panicked the boy was. He almost had to stop himself from checking behind him, just to make sure that there wasn’t someone else called Xukun and he wasn’t making a big fool out of himself. Xukun’s hands dug deeper into his pockets, trying to not freak out so much as he looked at the approaching figure.

“Hi?” Xukun breathed, not sure if the person he was seeing was real or if he’d just been driven mad by all the flower fumes and nagging thoughts of said boy in front of him. Maybe both. 

It wasn’t long before the figure’s long strides took him right in front of Xukun, whose insides were squirming with nervousness at the close proximity, without a countertop separating them this time. “You remember me?” Xukun was suddenly glad the sidewalk was lit dimly, so his cheeks which flushed pink were less noticeable. 

“Of course, who’d forget a cute guy who gives you a rose on Valentine’s Day?” Ziyi flashed a bright smile, and the warmth of Xukun’s cheeks grew even hotter (if that was even possible). Unable to bear with Ziyi’s overwhelming presence, he quickly averted eye contact, looking anywhere and everywhere but back at Ziyi as a result of the shyness that he couldn’t seem to shake off.

_Breathe, Cai Xukun, you still have a presentation on Tuesday and Linkai will certainly kill you if you drop dead right here._

His gaze landed upon a crimson red object clutched in Ziyi’s hand; the rose from the afternoon was still in his possession. Didn’t he say he was he going to give it to someone? Xukun cleared his throat, convincing himself that he could act like a normal person in front of attractive people for once. “Well, I hope my efforts didn’t go to waste. Did you manage to catch him?”

“I did,” Ziyi said matter-of-factly, raising his arm such that the rose was in front of his chest. Both of them stared at the rose for a moment, the air thick with tension. Xukun had to bite his tongue before he said something dumb like “Why do you still have it?” 

At last, he swallowed and asked, “Did he like it?” _Okay, that wasn’t too bad._

“Hmm, I’m not too sure,” Ziyi drawled, wrinkling his nose and pausing for a moment. “He was busy all day.” He twirled the stem of the rose between his fingers, allowing silence to fall upon the pair once more. Xukun found himself slightly lost. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling, but certainly perplexing because he’d never been in such a situation before. Shoving his nerves into the back of his mind, he cleared his throat again and somehow forced himself to speak again.

“Oh damn,” Xukun let out a strained laugh, hand nervously rubbing the back of his neck as he scrambled for words. “Did he, at least, get to see it?” He couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy shoot through his chest as he brought _him_ up as nonchalantly as he could. He dropped his gaze to the ground, tugging at the hem of his shirt.

Ziyi’s expression sobered, eyes taking on a different light than before. “Well…” He paused, still twirling the rose between his fingers absentmindedly (it was to disguise the tremor of his hands). 

“He’s looking at it right now.”

Xukun’s head snapped up, not quite believing his ears. “He… what?”

“You, the rose is for you,” Xukun hazarded letting his eyes flit over to Ziyi, which proved to be a huge mistake in about 2 seconds. Ziyi’s eyes were filled with sincerity, his lips curved up slightly in a hopeful smile and at that moment, Xukun had a compelling urge to just…

Kiss him.

_What the hell, you can’t just go around kissing strangers you just met for like, five minutes, dumbass, and he probably just wants to be friends, so just act normal for once, for god’s sake._

Xukun sucked in a breath of air through his nose sharply, pulling himself out of the thoughts swirling in his head before the lack of response made Ziyi get the wrong idea. “Thanks,” Xukun muttered, accepting the rose that was thrust under his nose. He could feel his pulse in his neck thudding away at an accelerating pace, his ragged breath making him feel like he’d just completed a marathon. 

“Do you have any plans now? Wanna go grab some coffee?”

That was all the invitation Xukun needed. Nodding, he followed Ziyi into the newly opened coffee shop 2 stores down, both of them sliding into opposite sides of one of the booths in the corner of the shop. Xukun hummed in approval at the cosy interior, as Ziyi got up to order their coffee.

“I got us extra cookies because the owner was feeling particularly… generous today,” Ziyi shot a look over his shoulder at the owner, who had a knowing smirk on his face as he leaned against the bench top with his arms crossed. Ziyi rolled his eyes, turning back to Xukun as the latter looked at him with a befuddled expression on his face.

Ziyi flipped the dark-haired owner the bird, hiding his hand behind his back so Xukun couldn’t see it. The owner leaned back slightly as he barked a laugh, shoulders lifting in chuckles as he disappeared behind the swinging door into the kitchen. 

“Just ignore him,” Ziyi settled down opposite Xukun, lips still twitched in a bemused (and slightly embarrassed) smile. He pushed the tray between them, which held two mugs of steaming coffee and a plate with five large chocolate chip cookies. Xukun was sure it was too much, but he didn’t complain. More cookies meant more time with Ziyi.

Xukun’s nervousness dissipated in the first three minutes, the initial shock of Ziyi’s immediate presence wearing off. He was feeling more at ease as they sipped their coffee and munched on cookies, talking about everything under the sun.

As it turned out, Ziyi was really close friends with the owner of the coffee shop, Yanjun. He’d been in the area to congratulate his friend on his new business, and happened to stumble upon the floral shop.  

They ended up chatting about the most random things for about two hours, with Yanjun shooing them out the door 10 minutes after closing time (“Remember to walk him home!”). Xukun’s cheeks heated up again as the owner shot him a cheeky wink, shutting the glass door behind them.

“Well, uh, I guess it’s time to go. Which direction is your house in?” Ziyi asked. “Oh, you don’t have to, I can go on my own-“ Xukun was cut off mid-sentence by a very adamant Ziyi, who insisted on walking him home. Finally, he conceded, leading the way back home.

The vibe during the walk was much different from the one in the coffee shop; they didn’t talk, but neither expected the other to fill the silence. Their footsteps hit the sidewalk in a comfortable rhythm as they strolled side-by-side, perfectly content with just being in each other’s presence. 

Xukun didn’t recall the walk back home from work being so short, and before he knew it he was already in the lobby of his apartment complex. It was another silent half-minute, neither knowing what to say.

“I had fun tonight, we should do it again sometimes,” The corners of Xukun's lips turned up in a shy smile.

“Actually, I was hoping we could go out for dinner sometime soon?” Ziyi’s eyebrows lifted in hopeful anticipation, and Xukun felt his pulse spike once again.

“Like a… date?” Xukun’s throat was sticky but he still somehow managed to force out the words, hoping they didn’t sound as shaky as he was feeling. 

“Like a date,” Ziyi confirmed. Xukun started to panic, and he really wasn’t sure what came over him, but before he knew it he’d stepped forward, closing up the gap between him and Ziyi. His lips barely grazed Ziyi’s cheek before he froze, belatedly realising what he’d just done. Ziyi’s eyes widened, as Xukun hurriedly stepped back and stared pointedly at his shoes, fingernails digging harshly into the palms like it could somehow stop the pink tint from forming across his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I just- That sounds like a plan, I’ll text you soon- Oh, I don’t even have your number, how am I supposed to do tha-“ The poor boy spluttered nervously in front of a very bemused Ziyi with an endearing smile etched on his lips. “I’ll text you, just give me your number,” Ziyi supplied, handing his phone over.

The embarrassed boy kept his gaze firmly downwards on the mobile device in his hand the whole time, saving his contact as quickly as he could just so he could escape from the mortifying hole he dug himself into. 

“Okay, uh, I’ll see you around then, bye,” Xukun hands the phone back to Ziyi like it was a hot potato, before almost positively bolting towards the open elevator. The elevator doors shut quickly, but not before Ziyi caught a glimpse of the younger boy burying his hands in his face in a combination of embarrassment and disbelief. Unconsciously, Ziyi cupped his hand over his cheek where it burned from Xukun’s touch.

He’d be lying if he said he didn’t smile just a tiny bit.

**Author's Note:**

> if you've made it this far, hello!!!
> 
> this is the first npc fic i've ever written (my first fic ever, actually) so i hope this was an enjoyable read :>
> 
> the different parts of this series will all be connected, with focus on different characters!
> 
> follow me @ultsyanjun on twitter for updates <3


End file.
